Does synthetic dna give life to a dead cell

In summary: This is something I was not aware of- the use of electricity to restart cells. It is an interesting possibility and may be one avenue to explore in the future.
  • #1
rajeshmarndi
319
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or can synthetic dna give life to a dead cell.

i.e when scientist removed genetic material of a cell, didn't the cell died. And when this synthetic genome is injected into the nucleus, it survive. Is this what happened.
 
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  • #2
rajeshmarndi said:
or can synthetic dna give life to a dead cell.

i.e when scientist removed genetic material of a cell, didn't the cell died. And when this synthetic genome is injected into the nucleus, it survive. Is this what happened.

Do you have a specific experiment in mind? If yes could you give a link to the the place where you read about it?

In general though cell death, whether via apoptosis or necrosis (things like necroptosis have also been suggested for some pathways) is not as simple as just the DNA being degraded. DNA is not the magical life giving material (the alleged Vital Principle) that'll grant life to anything in which it is present; in fact such a vital principle doesn't even exist. When a cell dies, it is no longer able to maintain its state of metabolism; all its components stop working and the state of organization in the cell disintegrates. The mess is usually cleaned up by phagocytes or it may also just lie around, sometimes causing damage to nearby cells as well.
 
  • #3
rajeshmarndi said:
or can synthetic dna give life to a dead cell.

i.e when scientist removed genetic material of a cell, didn't the cell died. And when this synthetic genome is injected into the nucleus, it survive. Is this what happened.

cell death means loss of all biochemical functions or are unsustainable. DNA, synthetic or not does little to change the fate of the cell. However , this not take into account organisms such as viruses.
 
  • #4
mishrashubham said:
Do you have a specific experiment in mind? If yes could you give a link to the the place where you read about it?
NO.

I just wanted to know does a cell dies if its genetic material are removed.
 
  • #5
rajeshmarndi said:
NO.

I just wanted to know does a cell dies if its genetic material are removed.

Yes if you remove the nucleus the cell will eventually die, but putting it back into a dead cell will not bring it back to life.
 
  • #6
mishrashubham said:
Yes if you remove the nucleus the cell will eventually die, but putting it back into a dead cell will not bring it back to life.

If the cell dies on removing the gentic material, if i understand right, then how is it made possible to alive the cell by replacing with synthetic genome.
 
  • #7
I only know of two directions for the current research of cellular *renewal*; one is the synthetic approach and the other is -(don't know how to name but it looks like to regrow the tail of a lizard without tail or having its tail cut)-. The latter to me looks more promising, I have watched amazing experiments on Italian TV and reports from known universities of it, so I believe it should be a very competitive field.
 
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  • #8
phylotree said:
I only know of two directions for the current research of cellular *renewal*; one is the synthetic approach and the other is -(don't know how to name but it looks like to regrow the tail of a lizard without tail or having its tail cut)-. The latter to me looks more promising, I have watched amazing experiments on Italian TV and reports from known universities of it, so I believe it should be a very competitive field.
Perhaps I'm off the mark here but are you alluding to regenerative medicine?
 
  • #9
Once the DNA has been reinserted into a new cell they zap it with electricity to make it divide. Frankenstein like. I was looking for why they did this and found this which is very interesting - http://www.sharinghealth.com/pdfs/whyzapwithelectricity.pdf

I think you are asking at what level does life exist at. Viruses are not considered to be alive as they do not metabolise and can't reproduce without infecting another host cell. There is an acronym for all the things they don't do which are seen as required for cell life. They are not considered dead either as they still operate. Some viruses can fix broken cellular machinery and use it for their own use.
 

1. What is synthetic DNA?

Synthetic DNA is artificially created genetic material that mimics the structure and function of natural DNA.

2. Can synthetic DNA give life to a dead cell?

No, synthetic DNA alone cannot give life to a dead cell. While it may contain the necessary genetic code, other cellular components and processes are needed for a cell to function and be considered alive.

3. How is synthetic DNA created?

Synthetic DNA is created through a process called gene synthesis, where individual nucleotides are combined in a specific sequence to form a DNA strand. This can be done chemically or using biological tools such as enzymes.

4. What is the purpose of creating synthetic DNA?

The purpose of creating synthetic DNA is to study and better understand the functions and mechanisms of living organisms. It can also be used in various biotechnology applications, such as creating new medicines or developing more efficient crops.

5. Is synthetic DNA safe?

Synthetic DNA is generally considered safe as it is designed to mimic natural DNA and does not contain any harmful or unknown sequences. However, as with any new technology, proper safety measures should always be taken when handling synthetic DNA.

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